04 October 2007

6:27 pm cdt saturday 06 october 2007 at first it was believed that mr. ashley was upset about his city retirement benefits not being proper. then it was later learned when the town talk reported today that mr. ashley's ex-wife audrey ashley had recently won a court victory over him regarding their divorce which included his retirement benefits. town talk snip:

[C]ourt records obtained by The Town Talk show that Audrey Ashley, who was divorced from John Ashley in 1997, had sought in September 2006 a community property division in 9th Judicial District Court of net assets in which she said she was entitled to more than $55,000 in assets.

Those estimated assets, calculated by Audrey Ashley, did not include half of John Ashley's retirement benefits from the city of Alexandria, for which he worked more than 30 years.

Audrey Ashley claimed she was due a portion of retirement earned in the period from December 1974 until the couple's divorce in September 1997.

On Tuesday, Judge George C. Metoyer signed an order for John Ashley to explain why his ex-wife's estimation of assets was not accurate.

what the town talk hasnt made clear yet is who exactly is ms. audrey ashley's attorney. the town talk seems to want us to believe that mr. camille giordano was mr. ashley's attorney yet dont specifically name ms. audrey ashley's attorney. we guess that will come out soon. **updated** see post john charles ashley

5:01 pm cdt shooter identified by kalb as john ashley. mr. ashley is a former street department, city of alexandria employee upset about retirement benefits.

town talk: excerpt: Five people reportedly were shot today at the Giordano law office in downtown Alexandria.

Three of the victims have been removed from the building, but the fourth and fifth victims and the gunman are still in the building, officials said at 5:50 p.m.

The gunman is John Ashley, 63, of Willow Glen River Road, Alexandria. He is a retired city of Alexandria employee who has reportedly been depressed the past few years and whose daughter died earlier this year, according to his wife, Evelyn Ashley of Alexandria.

kalb crawl: ...there has been a shooting in downtown alexandria near 8th street and washington street. the alexandria police department tells us that there may be four people wounded. the extent of the injuries are unknown at this time. the shooter remains at large and apd is warning people not to come into downtown alexandria. we will provide coverage on this breaking news story for the rest of the afternoon...

the town talk: Alexandria police and other law enforcement officers have gathered en masse in the downtown Alexandria area not far from the Rapides Parish Courthouse following a shooting downtown this afternoon.

One person was taken from the law office and put in an ambulance. There has been confirmation that one person has been shot, and there are unconfirmed reports that as many as four people may have been shot.

Rapides Regional Medical Center said three victims from the incident have been brought to the hospital.

Another stretcher has been readied at the scene for an additional victim.

About 20 to 30 police cars are on the scene, and scores of law enforcement officers -- including Alexandria police, the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office, State Police and the FBI -- are at the scene, along with ambulances and other emergency personnel.

At 3:30 p.m., a group of law officers wearing protective gear gathered near a postal truck close to the law office, as though they were preparing for action.

Several blocks of the area around the courthouse have been sealed off, and some downtown businesses, including The Town Talk building and the Rapides Parish School Board's Central Office, are on lockdown.

a wst... source near the scene of the shooting provided us via email with the following:

2:30 pm: Something major is going on down town. Eight marked APD unit with Light and sirens on, some of them (3) driving the wrong way on a one way went towards the court house area, as well as a number of unmarked cars

2:52 pm: We are being told there was a shooting somewhere down town and to lock the doors because the shooter is lose and on the run in an unknown direction.